The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, asked Congress, from his Twitter account, to decree an emergency regime.
The measure would seek to respond to the escalation of murders attributed to gangs that the Central American country has been facing in recent days.
I request the @AsambleaSV decree today EXCEPTION REGIME, according to article 29 of the Constitution of the Republic.
– Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) March 27, 2022
El Salvador registered at least 14 homicides on Friday. According to local press reports, this Saturday, March 26, they joined at least 38 murdersthe highest figure in a single day recorded during the Bukele government, reported the EFE agency.
The leader of Congress, Ernesto Castro, responded to Bukele’s request and called for a extraordinary session for 11:00 p.m. local time, this Saturday, March 26.
“We are with you! Count on it,” Castro replied on his Twitter account.
For the approval of the state of emergency, 63 votes of the 84 deputies are needed. The ruling party has 64 in favor.
Suspension of guarantees
The Salvadoran Magna Carta stipulates the suspension of constitutional guarantees in case of “war, invasion of territory, rebellion, sedition, catastrophe, epidemic or other general calamity, or serious disturbances of the public order“.
The guarantees that Congress can suspend when invoking this article are the freedom to enter and leave the country, freedom of expression, the inviolability of correspondence, the prohibition of the intervention of telecommunications without a court order.
They also include freedom of association, the right of all detainees to be informed of the reasons for their arrest, the guarantee of the assistance of a defense attorney in court proceedings and the maximum term of 72 hours administrative detention and consignment before a judge.
Before requesting the state of exception, Bukele said that the polivia and the andarmy “They must let the agents and soldiers do their job and must defend them from the accusations of those who protect the gang members.”
In addition, he pointed out that the Attorney General’s Office “must be effective with the cases” and that “we will also be aware of the judges who favor criminals.”
The Salvadoran president did not clarify whether this message is a back to the use of lethal force by security forces.
The authorities have not given details of the reasons for the increase, while police figures reveal that the statistics of crimes has been above average for several days in March.
El Salvador reached 86 homicides andthis monthaccording to data released by the Police, a figure higher than that recorded in January and February, with 85 and 79 violent deaths, respectively.
In November 2021, the country also saw a sudden spike in homicides that left more than 40 murders in three days. In this context, Bukele rejected the accusations that his government had a “truce” with the gangs.
The US Treasury Department sanctioned two Bukele government officials in December 2021 for alleged “secret negotiations” with MS-13.
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